I recently went out to Jerome, Idaho to visit my friends John and Nancy Lane and check out the progress on the Corsair Bu No. 92436. It’s estimated that it will take at least 18 months or so to complete the restoration but from what I’ve seen over the last four years it will be worth it. With the price of Corsairs topping four million dollars, it would be hard to loose money on a restoration. Several more Corsairs will hopefully return to the air in the coming years, due in part to some of the work being done by John and his crew at Airpower Unlimited.
Frank Arrufat’s Corsair Bu No. 92489 was being painted and will hopefully be completed by Oshkosh, where I’m sure it will win trophies. His outboard wing panels are in the jigs waiting for paint. When his plane rolls out things should speed up with our Corsair
Wings: Lots of work has gone into the wings, mostly due to corrosion but also due to damage the airplane sustained over the years. Many ribs were damaged when the fabric on the wings was replaced with sheet metal several years ago. I don’t think any of them weren’t damaged in some way. They have all been repaired and will be mated to the new spars as soon as the jig is available. Fabric will go back on the outer panels as original. The wing roots have been stripped, cleaned and repaired.
Stabilizers and control surfaces: All the stabilizers have been blown apart cleaned and repaired. They required quite a bit of work due to corrosion. Most of which was caused by exhaust fumes that worked their way up into them due to the lack of tail wheel doors. New doors have been produced and are being trimmed to fit. The control surfaces have all been cleaned and repaired. When I made my visit, they were being covered.
Rear fuselage: The rear seat was taken out and the air stair door was removed and the area was re skinned. The seat area is now back in its original configuration as a radio rack, but will be used as a baggage area. There was quite a bit of corrosion in the rear fuselage and some damage that had been badly repaired in the past. Everything has been cleaned up, repaired, interior painted, and accesories installed.
Front fuselage: When I was there, the final stripping of the front fuselage was being done. There is some repair work to be done on it but it won’t be long before it will be painted and everything re installed. The consoles have been rewired, repaired, painted and are in a box waiting to be installed. The work is amazing and it’s nice to see the automotive wiring that was in the fuse panel is finally gone. A new fuel tank is on the way and the engine has been rebuilt. The new canopy has been blown, installed in the frame and is sitting in a crate.
No paint scheme has been officially decide on but it will be Sea Blue. I’m hoping that it will be the U.S.S. Saidor scheme.
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But as these aircraft get older and overhauled more, the level of authenticity goes up. But we seem to loose the personal touch that each aircraft was given over the years.
